Learn about the important explorers of the Age of Exploration and their amazing expeditions. Explore the great adventures that helped to define our view of the world, from Ferdinand Magellan’s circuit of the globe to Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the Americas.
Explorer | Voyage |
Christopher Columbus | First voyage to the Americas |
Ferdinand Magellan | First circumnavigation of the globe |
Vasco da Gama | Sea route to India |
John Cabot | Exploration of North American coast |
Amerigo Vespucci | Mapping of South American coastline |
James Cook | Voyages to the Pacific, mapping of New Zealand |
Henry Hudson | Exploration of Hudson River and Hudson Bay |
Juan Ponce de León | Discovery of Florida |
Bartolomeu Dias | Cape of Good Hope exploration |
Hernán Cortés | Conquest of the Aztec Empire |
Francisco Pizarro | Conquest of the Inca Empire |
Pedro Álvares Cabral | Discovery of Brazil |
Samuel de Champlain | Exploration of Canada |
Marco Polo | Journey to Asia, accounts of the Silk Road |
Alexander von Humboldt | Scientific exploration of Latin America |
Zheng He | Seven voyages to Southeast Asia and Africa |
Francis Drake | Circumnavigation of the globe, exploration in America |
Jacques Cartier | Exploration of the St. Lawrence River |
Henry the Navigator | Portuguese exploration and colonization |
Vasco Núñez de Balboa | First European to see the Pacific Ocean |
Henry the Navigator | Portuguese exploration |